The End of Days
by katriel1987
Summary: What would you do if you only had one sunrise?


Title: The End of Days

Author: Katerina17

Pairings: None

Spoilers: "Singularity"

Season: Not specified

Content Warnings: Minor language, character death

Disclaimer: "Stargate SG-1" and its characters are the property of MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, Gekko Film Corp., Showtime/Viacom and USA Networks, Inc. This story is for entertainment purposes and the author (me) is not getting paid for it. No copyright infringement is intended. (Really.)

Author's Note: My muse made me do it. Please don't kill me!

* * *

I sit on the roof and stare up into the sky. The sun is about to rise; only the brightest stars are visible overhead.

My back aches from sitting, my Coke is cold in my hand, and it's all so tangible, so _real_, the cold and the sky and the faint pine-scented breeze that fans my flushed face.

One sunrise.

What would you do if you only had one sunrise?

I turn the Coke can up and empty it in one long swallow. God knows I'd prefer a beer, but I've got driving to do.

One sunrise. One sunset, if I'm lucky. I'll be in the desert by then, in the middle of nowhere, spending the last few hours of my life baking in a sea of scorched sand.

The end won't come from dehydration or heat stroke. Nor a car accident or a heart attack or a bullet or any of those other things I've briefly contemplated at one time or another.

No mundane, ordinary death for me. No sir. Jack O'Neill will go out with a bang.

I smile cynically and toss the Coke can off the edge of the roof. It lands with a small, tinny clatter.

I've checked a map, studied every angle, considered every possibility. The map is still on the kitchen table where I left it, marked by a bright red X in New Mexico, in the desert, where no one else will die when I go out in a blaze of glory.

I'm not supposed to know what's going to happen. They were arrogantly certain that I was still unconscious, but I heard them discussing their plans in distorted voices. I knew then that I would die, and was thankful for one thing: the chance to say goodbye.

My situation is eerily reminiscent of Cassandra's, only without the happy ending. The first trip through the Stargate activated the bomb forming around my heart. A second trip would detonate it, and the Stargate, instantly.

Providing that I don't get too close to the Stargate, I should have about thirteen hours left to live. Seven hundred eighty minutes. More seconds than I can calculate in my head.

Nirrti's made some improvements to her human bomb design since the failure with Cassie. Distance from the Stargate won't save me like it did Janet's daughter. I know because I heard Nirrti boasting about the new design.

New and improved. 24-hour warranty. No refunds.

I laugh bitterly, and consider the possibility that I might be going crazy.

It's cruel of me, I suppose, to not tell my team. They were so happy to get me out of Nirrti's clutches, to bring me home shaky and dazed but relatively unharmed.

I said goodbye to them last night. They came over for pizza and beer, for what they thought was a celebration of life and freedom.

They kept looking at me, worried but too tactful to say anything, convinced that my captivity had been somehow worse than I'd let on. They knew there was something I wasn't telling, and they also knew I wasn't likely to start talking anytime soon.

I told them I was planning a camping trip -- "just to refocus, clear my head", I said, and they all nodded sympathetically. Everyone needs solitude sometimes, I more often than most.

Before they left, I hugged each of them and said quietly how much I appreciated their friendship and what they meant to me.

I think that scared them more than anything else, because I'm not one to say things like that unless I have a damn good reason. Even then it's like pulling teeth.

The first rays of my last sunrise fall across my face. Birds start singing. My cell phone rings.

Taking it out of my pocket, I flip it open and swear when I see the number. I've already gone through the emotionally wrenching goodbye thing. Hearing Daniel Jackson's voice will only make it worse.

With a sigh, I lift the phone to my ear. "Yeah?"

"Jack!" Daniel's voice is slightly shaky. Undoubtedly he's lain awake half the night worrying about me and convincing himself that I'm too emotionally vulnerable to be left alone right now. I have to make him believe otherwise. The last thing I need is for him to show up on my doorstep.

"Daniel. Up early, aren't you?"

My casual, almost teasing tone catches him off guard. "Well, yeah, I was just -- I -- I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine. Why?"

"You ... you weren't really acting like yourself last night."

"Yeah, I know. Too much beer. Too much thinking about dying while I hung out with the Goddess of Doom."

"Uh huh." He doesn't sound convinced, but he lets it drop, probably intending to bring it up later when my guard is down.

"So," he says, "you still planning on getting back Monday?"

"Yep."

"Still on for pizza at my place?"

_Oh, Daniel, if only you knew._

"As long as you're buying," I say around the sudden lump in my throat.

He laughs softly. "You know I am."

"Sounds perfect. I'll see you then."

"Jack?"

"Huh?"

"Be careful. There are all kinds of things in the woods ... bears, mountain lions, Sasquatch ... "

_God, I have to end this before I lose it._

I snort. "I'll make sure and keep an eye out."

"Great. I'll see you Monday."

"Daniel?"

There's a brief silence.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for caring."

I hang up before he can say anything.

It's time to go to New Mexico.

* * *

I should be drinking in every sight, every sound, but as I drive toward the New Mexico border, I find it hard to concentrate on the shimmering aspens, the big blue sky, the snow capped mountains.

I wonder about my team -- how they'll take the news of my death, what their lives will be like after I'm gone. They'll move on, because they have each other, but I know all too well the agony of losing someone you love, and I hurt for them.

They care about me. Hell, they _love_ me. I'm still not sure why, but somehow the four of us have become linked, joined by a bond of friendship that has survived everything life has thrown our way.

When it comes down to it, I didn't tell my team for one simple reason: because they wouldn't let me die alone any more than Carter was able to abandon Cassie at the bottom of that shaft.

They would keep working frantically, looking for some solution, some miracle cure that doesn't exist, and the eleventh hour would come and go and they would die with me. I can't let that happen. Nirrti's victory will be a small one: she will eliminate one human on a planet of 6 billion humans.

She will not destroy the SGC's flagship team. They will grieve, but they'll survive, and someday I believe they will destroy her. They're good enough.

I trained them.

* * *

The eleventh hour has passed -- literally. At the most, I have one hour left to live. For all I know, it could be minutes.

Even twilight is blistering in the New Mexico desert. I watch the sun slip beneath the horizon, taking with it the last daylight I'll ever see.

As darkness descends, a breeze whispers across the sand. It feels almost cool. I lean my head back against the windshield of my truck and look up. A few stars are sparkling in the darkening sky. I always did love stars.

My cell phone chirps.

_What the hell?_

I didn't think it would even work out here!

I flip it open and freeze when I see the name.

_Carter._

Closing my eyes in defeat, I press talk and lift the phone to my face. "Hello?"

"Hi, sir." Carter tries unsuccessfully to hide the concern in her voice. "Sorry, I know you wanted peace and quiet but I just thought I'd check in. Got your tent set up yet?"

I take a deep breath and think _oh hell, what does it matter?_

"I'm not at the camp ground, Carter. I'm in New Mexico. In the desert."

"New Mexico? I didn't know you were -- "

"I'm not on a camping trip." I wonder if she can hear the fatigue in my voice, can tell how bone weary I am. "I came out here to die."

There is a moment of silence as my words sink in. "Sir -- " She says. Her voice sounds strangled. "Jack -- "

"Carter ... Sam ... listen to me. There was something I didn't tell you. Nirrti put a bomb in my chest. It was activated when you guys brought me through the gate. Sometime in the next hour -- probably sooner -- it will go off."

"Where are you? Tell me where you are." She sounds desperate, on the edge of tears. "It doesn't have to end this way. Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I knew you'd think that it doesn't have to end this way. I'm sorry, but it does. There's no happy ending this time. Nothing can stop this, Carter. You're gonna to have to live with that."

"No," she says. "No."

"You've been a good friend and the best damn 2IC I ever had. I want you to promise me you won't give up, Carter. The SGC needs you."

"It's been an honor, Colonel." She is crying now.

"Likewise. Kill Nirrti for me, will you?"

"I _swear_ I will." Something in Carter's voice is very cold, and I have no doubt that Nirrti will pay for what she did to me.

There's a sudden stab of pain in my chest, making it hard to breathe. It catches me off guard because I expected the end to be sudden, without warning.

When I can speak again, I say urgently, "Tell Daniel and Teal'c for me. It was an honor. Tell them ... I'm sorry. There are letters in my desk ... "

The pain intensifies, and I drop the phone, clutching my chest with both hands.

The end comes with a flash.

I never hear the explosion, only silence.

****

FINIS


End file.
